Bells & Bows
by OhTex
Summary: December 1925 sees Percival Graves hiding from Christmas in his office. Unfortunately for him, Trixie Barnes is determined to infect MACUSA with festive cheer.


A/N: This is just a little dollop of Christmas fluff to round off the year! Set the Christmas before Fantastic Beasts, and near the start of the whole exciting, slow-moving, romantic mess. Hope you enjoy :)

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While Percival Graves could appreciate the merits of Christmas, he rarely entered into the festive spirit – something his team could attest to.

Aside from spending Christmas Day with his parents and younger brother at their family home in Boston, the whole festive season was just a collection of ordinary days in which his colleagues decided to be more irritating than usual. He had been quietly sat at his desk, reading over the latest arrest reports when he heard a commotion outside. He frowned, closed the file and tossed it onto the desk, sliding out of his chair and pulling open his office door.

He was used to seeing his aurors sat quietly at their desks, working hard and working _quietly_. Instead, they were all gathered in the centre of the room in a gaggle, chattering and laughing.

"What's going on?"

At the sound of his voice, they all fell silent, looking at him with wide and guilty eyes.

"I think this is my fault!" The group parted to reveal Trixie Barnes stood at the centre, holding a large box overflowing with Christmas decorations. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and she was wearing a ludicrous headband covered in bright red bows and golden bells that jingled with every movement.

His jaw clenched.

"What are you doing here, Miss Barnes?"

"Decorating, Mr Graves." She wiggled the box and beamed. "I thought I could put a few things up in here. Maybe everyone could pick a decoration for their desks? Might cheer the place up a bit."

"Can we, sir?" Sam, one of his most trusted aurors, was already clutching a wreath with an air possessiveness.

Teetering on the verge of a headache, he snapped, "This isn't a place for _cheer_ , Miss Barnes. We have serious work to do."

But despite his acidic tone, she wasn't deterred. "Even more of a reason for some light relief! And haven't some of your team volunteered to be here Christmas Day? Don't you think that it would be nice for them to have some cheer while they work?"

He could feel the weight of their combined gazes. He might sometimes lack patience and goodwill but he still prided himself on being a fair boss. And he found himself unable to deny them a smidge of Christmas happiness even if he found little enjoyment in it himself.

He sighed. "Alright. Everyone take one, put it on your desk. Be merry, I guess."

Temporarily forgetting their usual professionalism, the aurors launched into the task with enthusiasm; plucking decorations and scurrying back to their desks to put them up.

Miss Barnes was watching them with delight while pulling some pieces of tinsel out of the box herself. "I think I'll put a few bits up, Mr Graves. What do you think? Above the map?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "You must have something better to do."

A lurid gold ribbon nearly fell from her arms but she caught it just in time. "Are you asking if I have work to do? Yes, I do. But is work 'better' than decorating? No."

He watched in fascination as she pulled a chair from an empty desk and clambered on top of it, humming happily as she draped gold tinsel over the top of the incident map, then red tinsel over the board next to it. He should just go back into his office and leave her to it…but instead he found himself asking,

"Can't you just levitate it? Where's your wand?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him, turning far too casually than she should on such a small perch. "Oh, it's in there somewhere." She waved in the general direction of her own department. "Under some papers, I think."

He gritted his teeth. He should definitely leave her to it –

But then she turned to fiddle with a bow she had placed on the pillar almost out of her reach, and the heel of her right shoe slipped off the chair. He rushed forward, arms out in case she fell. But she righted herself with relative ease, laughing at her own carelessness.

"Don't you think you should just get your wand? You're going to hurt yourself."

She waved a bit of tinsel at him. "Oh, it's fine." She wheeled around again, making the chair wobble and his arms flew up again. "Now, where shall we put this?" She spotted a free space over his office door. "If I move the chair - "

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Get down! I'll do it."

She blinked and smirked. " _You'll_ do it?"

"Yes! Just…anything to get you off that chair."

"Oh. Alright." She dropped the piece of tinsel and he caught it, regretting ever coming out of his office. She placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself and jumped off the chair, her heels clacking on the floor. Relieved she was on steady ground, he sighed and muttered,

"Where do you want this?"

She looked up at him with smug amusement. "I think it'll look lovely over your office door."

He took a deep breath and, after some debate, decided not to argue. "Fine." He quickly levitated it across the room and it settled on top of his door frame with far too much festive cheer.

"See? That wasn't so hard." He could hear the amusement in her voice and he felt an irrational desire to laugh. She jiggled the half-empty box in her arms. "You want a bow or something for your desk?"

"Don't push it, Miss Barnes." Afraid he sounded austere, he turned to give her a small smile.

She smiled back and he wasn't sure if was the decorations or the company, but the department suddenly felt warmer. "I wouldn't dare, Mr Graves."

And with that, she strode off with her box, obviously satisfied that her work was done.

There was something about that woman, he thought as he watched her wander back down the corridor, bells jingling with every step. He had a strange sort of affection for her that allowed her to get away with things no one else could. Since she'd been promoted earlier this year, he'd become quite fond of her. While she often infuriated him with her heart-before-head approach to everything, he couldn't deny that she had made her rag-tag department into an effective – if far too chatty – team. Her attendance at the departmental meetings had really perked up an otherwise tedious necessity.

He watched as she chatted with a colleague in the doorway of her department, the jangling headband still proudly in place. He smiled to himself and glanced around at his own department, wondering how she had made him decorate it himself. He opened the door to his office and jumped when something landed on his head. The stream of golden tinsel had immediately fallen off his door frame. Unable to stop himself smiling, he looked back along the corridor to see her disappearing through the door and around the corner.

He couldn't help but think that maybe next year wouldn't be so bad with her around.


End file.
